THE ENVELOPE PLEASE …

and Motorcycle.com StaffPhotos by: Brian BladesVideo by: Jay McNally

Our hats are all off to the geniuses at Yamaha who built this thing. It’ll run right with the curve-slaying $8,999 KTM Duke up and down our favorite roads, then deliver you home with nearly the comfort of the practical-shoes Honda NC700X, for considerably less money than either of them.

We believe the Duke’s a great stable pony for the well-heeled enthusiast who has another bike or three in the garage more suited to the everyday slog. But if money is an object, and you’ve got to pick one bike to do it all, you really can’t do better than Yamaha’s new FZ-07, a motorcycle that can’t decide if it’s a sportbike, eco-commuter, naked hooligan or standard? You will not go wrong with the FZ-07 or the 690 Duke, our two favorite bikes in our favorite class. This week.

The 645cc-plus Twins (SFV, Ninja, FZ) eke out similar peak numbers, but it’s the Yamaha’s 689cc powerplant that pulls hardest, longest. Amazing that KTM’s 690cc motor pulls so strong from just one lung. Note how it spins 2000 rpm higher than the twin-cylinder 670cc NC700X. The CB500F feels far more frisky than the chart indicates.

The FZ-07’s torque curve is the cream of this crop, with the broadest swathe of strong power. The KTM puts up a slightly bigger number, but note the curve’s jagged quality and how it wouldn’t smoothly accept throttle below 3000 rpm. The NC700X delivers immediate power but signs off disappointingly early. With just 471cc to work with, the CB500’s numbers are small, but its incredibly flat torque curve yields whatever juice it has whenever its needed.

2014 Middleweight Mash-Up Six-Way Shootout

Category

Honda CB500F

Honda NC700X

Kawasaki Ninja 650

KTM 690 Duke

Suzuki SFV650

Yamaha FZ-07

Price

100%

74.4%

76.3%

52.3%

71.2%

73.0%

Weight

86.1%

75.8%

77.4%

100%

80.2%

89.3%

lb/hp

59.7%

58.0%

80.6%

100%

86.6%

96.7%

lb/lb-ft

53.5%

67.5%

72.6%

100%

76.2%

89.2%

Engine

73.3%

60.4%

81.0%

87.5%

89.0%

93.1%

Transmission/Clutch

85.0%

85.4%

82.5%

82.1%

87.1%

91.3%

Handling

83.8%

69.6%

75.4%

94.6%

85.4%

88.3%

Brakes

74.2%

73.8%

79.6%

92.1%

80.0%

88.3%

Suspension

72.5%

79.2%

79.2%

94.2%

77.1%

81.7%

Technologies

61.3%

68.3%

66.7%

71.7%

60.0%

70.0%

Instruments

74.2%

73.8%

74.6%

70.8%

72.9%

89.6%

Ergonomics/Comfort

80.4%

85.8%

70.4%

86.7%

78.3%

87.9%

Quality

75.8%

78.3%

70.0%

89.2%

75.8%

80.8%

Cool Factor

68.3%

66.7%

68.8%

90.4%

66.7%

88.8%

Grin Factor

70.8%

62.5%

72.9%

93.3%

80.8%

88.3%

Overall Score

75.7%

71.8%

75.5%

86.2%

78.3%

86.4%

Price and weight are scored based on objective metrics. Other scores are listed as a percentage of editors’ ratings in each category. The Engine category is double-weighted, so the Overall Score is not a total of the displayed percentages but, rather, a percentage of the weighted aggregate raw score.

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